Austin Hays called up

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, interloper said:

I think we're all assuming next May but perhaps we shouldn't. 

Maybe he'll wait until May of 2022 to better align him with the O's next window of contention?

[Frobby]

Nice to see Hays have a good game last night, 3 for 4 with a double and a nice catch in the OF.   On the postgame show, Dempsey was praising Hays for getting good jumps on balls — I have no idea if that’s justified or not.     A little more playing time and Statcast can tell us what it thinks.   

[mdbdotcom]

If Rutschman and Diaz develop into ML All Stars, I'll be happy if Hays turns out to be a good defensive CF who bats seventh and hits some home runs despite having a low OBP. Not everyone on a good team needs to be great. 

[wildcard]

Glad to see Hays have a good game.    I am a little concerned about him diving for balls that he may not need to dive to catch the ball.   Looks like it increases the risk of injury.

[Redskins Rick]

1 hour ago, mdbdotcom said:

If Rutschman and Diaz develop into ML All Stars, I'll be happy if Hays turns out to be a good defensive CF who bats seventh and hits some home runs despite having a low OBP. Not everyone on a good team needs to be great. 

at this stage, I would settle for everybody being good.

[Frobby]

* Austin Hays is the frontrunner for the center field job on opening day, as long as he stays healthy and is hitting in spring training.

Hyde is convinced that Hays can handle the position, and at a high level.

“Yeah, I was thinking during the game. I saw A.J. Pollock young, and he’s got a little A.J. Pollock in there for me,” Hyde said. “A guy that can play center field, that can really throw, that’s athletic and can go get it in the gap. But also a tough out and a guy that can leave the ballpark on you. I think for me that’s a pretty good comp. When I was watching both those guys tonight I was thinking back to what A.J. looked like a handful of years ago.

“Yeah, but now it’s about getting major league at-bats and continuing to develop. And once you get here it’s not easy to stay here, so you’ve got to continue to work and improve, and there’s going to be adjustments made to him. I think you saw him get on some elevated plus fastballs tonight. I think as the league sees that, he might not be getting elevated plus fastballs. He might be getting breaking balls down. So it’s just all those types of things. And learning how to be a major league hitter.”  

https://www.masnsports.com/school-of-roch/2019/09/orioles-notebook-items-on-martin-hays-and-kirby.html

Pretty high praise from the skipper.   

[Moose Milligan]

I hope the dude can stay healthy before anything else.  I'm also not getting too carried away with a nice game at the plate, I remember we were all excited about a certain centerfielder last season who had to be sent down this year and hasn't come close to returning.  Granted these two players are different and there's some reason for optimism here but let's see where Hays is in September, 2020.

[LA2]

47 minutes ago, Frobby said:

* Austin Hays is the frontrunner for the center field job on opening day, as long as he stays healthy and is hitting in spring training.

Hyde is convinced that Hays can handle the position, and at a high level.

“Yeah, I was thinking during the game. I saw A.J. Pollock young, and he’s got a little A.J. Pollock in there for me,” Hyde said. “A guy that can play center field, that can really throw, that’s athletic and can go get it in the gap. But also a tough out and a guy that can leave the ballpark on you. I think for me that’s a pretty good comp. When I was watching both those guys tonight I was thinking back to what A.J. looked like a handful of years ago.

“Yeah, but now it’s about getting major league at-bats and continuing to develop. And once you get here it’s not easy to stay here, so you’ve got to continue to work and improve, and there’s going to be adjustments made to him. I think you saw him get on some elevated plus fastballs tonight. I think as the league sees that, he might not be getting elevated plus fastballs. He might be getting breaking balls down. So it’s just all those types of things. And learning how to be a major league hitter.”  

https://www.masnsports.com/school-of-roch/2019/09/orioles-notebook-items-on-martin-hays-and-kirby.html

Pretty high praise from the skipper.   

Mullins has admitted that he got distracted or intimidated by the pressure of being heralded as Adam's replacement. So I don't know how wise it is to heap the praise on so early, although Hyde does try to temper it with cautions about adapting to changes in how he's pitched, the difficulty of major league ball, etc. Maybe he thinks Hays is more mature and can handle it. Personally speaking, I'd prefer a more Buck-like wait and see (or play him in many situations and see) approach.

But then who can blame Hyde after what he's had to deal with putting together a starting outfield with Mullins crashed, Smith Jr. injured, Stewart's weird D and injuries, no CFer aside from Broxton and his Davis-worthy K-rate, and Davis blocking moving Mancini to first base? What a sad show. At least Santander has worked out and provides some encouragement.

[MurphDogg]

26 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

I hope the dude can stay healthy before anything else.  I'm also not getting too carried away with a nice game at the plate, I remember we were all excited about a certain centerfielder last season who had to be sent down this year and hasn't come close to returning.  Granted these two players are different and there's some reason for optimism here but let's see where Hays is in September, 2020.

To be fair, that certain center fielder (Cedric Mullins) did have a decent second half in Bowie. He batted .303/.366/.451 in his last 36 games of the season  in a league where the average OPS was .677. In the playoffs (6 games) he is batting .333/.419/.593. 

He was brutal to start the year and for a couple months after his demotion but he has picked it up recently. Not sure we should give up on Mullins yet.

[Tony-OH]

11 minutes ago, MurphDogg said:

To be fair, that certain center fielder (Cedric Mullins) did have a decent second half in Bowie. He batted .303/.366/.451 in his last 36 games of the season  in a league where the average OPS was .677. In the playoffs (6 games) he is batting .333/.419/.593. 

He was brutal to start the year and for a couple months after his demotion but he has picked it up recently. Not sure we should give up on Mullins yet.

This is fair. I know Mullins had a bust year, but he's still got the defense and speed aspects and is still fairly young overall. He was rushed a bit to the majors so it's no overly surprising he had a setback. I still think he ends up a decent platoon-type 4th outfielder. Mullins is a hard worker that may have had things snowball on him this year. He's now faced the adversity and if he can have a good year next year in AAA, I could see him back with the big league in 2020 and beyond.

I know some may disagree, but if I could only keep one player I'd still take Mullins over McKenna.

[Moose Milligan]

14 minutes ago, MurphDogg said:

To be fair, that certain center fielder (Cedric Mullins) did have a decent second half in Bowie. He batted .303/.366/.451 in his last 36 games of the season  in a league where the average OPS was .677. In the playoffs (6 games) he is batting .333/.419/.593. 

He was brutal to start the year and for a couple months after his demotion but he has picked it up recently. Not sure we should give up on Mullins yet.

Fair enough, and it's good to see that he's coming around.  Next years outfield possibilities should make it for a crowded group and Mullins can't really afford to slip again.  

[Frobby]

17 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

Fair enough, and it's good to see that he's coming around.  Next years outfield possibilities should make it for a crowded group and Mullins can't really afford to slip again.  

The OF should be an interesting story to follow next year.   Frankly, I expected it to be more of a story this year, but various injuries to Hays, Diaz and Stewart, plus Mullins’ offensive woes, made it more slow-developing than I thought.    Santander, though, was a definite bright spot.    If you’d told me before the year started that he’d get about twice as many PA this year as Mullins, Stewart, Hays and Diaz combined, I would have been astounded.    

[Moose Milligan]

Just now, Frobby said:

The OF should be an interesting story to follow next year.   Frankly, I expected it to be more of a story this year, but various injuries to Hays, Diaz and Stewart, plus Mullins’ offensive woes, made it more slow-developing than I thought.    Santander, though, was a definite bright spot.    If you’d told me before the year started that he’d get about twice as many PA this year as Mullins, Stewart, Hays and Diaz combined, I would have been astounded.    

Yep, I agree.  I basically view it as everything that should have happened this year with that crop just gets bumped over to next year.  And Mountcastle, too, don't forget.  Looks like they're trying him in the outfield, too.

[Pheasants]

So by September 2020 we should have 6 outfielders fighting for time.  Our cup overfloweth...

[bobmc]

1 hour ago, Pheasants said:

So by September 2020 we should have 6 outfielders fighting for time.  Our cup overfloweth...

But no Little Yaz so I guess he wasn't really needed anyway and more power to him succeeding.